Does food subsidy affect household nutrition?

2014 ◽  
Vol 34 (1/2) ◽  
pp. 107-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tara Shankar Shaw ◽  
Sridhar Telidevara
Keyword(s):  
Selection Bias ◽  
Distribution System ◽  
Causal Effect ◽  
Poverty Line ◽  
National Sample ◽  
Sample Survey ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Calorie Consumption ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Targeted Public Distribution System

Purpose – Indian households having the below poverty line (BPL) ration card receive rice, wheat, sugar and kerosene from the Indian Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) at subsidized rates. The paper uses the National Sample Survey Organization's consumption expenditure survey for the 61st round to study the causal effect of the BPL ration card on BPL households' calorie consumption. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – This causal effect is estimated by comparing per-capita-per-day calorie consumption of the BPL households having BPL card with that of a matched counterfactual BPL household from the same state not having BPL card, using stratified propensity score matching. Findings – The BPL ration card was found to increase calorie consumption from cereals and decrease calorie consumption from non-cereal food items without affecting the overall calorie consumption of household. Thus, TPDS induces households to consume more cereals and less non-cereal without significantly changing the overall calorie consumption. Research limitations/implications – The research methodology controls for selection bias due to observable variables. Further, research needed to devise experimental set up to control for the selection bias due to unobserved variables. Originality/value – The paper uses the targeting error in identifying BPL households in TPDS as a quasi-experiment set up to study the causal effect of the BPL ration card.

Economy will be Modi’s personal focus

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Prime Minister ◽  
National Sample ◽  
General Election ◽  
Sample Survey ◽  
Gdp Growth ◽  
Illegal Migration ◽  
Content Type ◽  
National Sample Survey ◽  
Central Statistics Office ◽  
Central Statistics

Subject Modi's post-election cabinet appointments and likely policy trajectory. Significance Following a landslide victory in the general election, Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week announced his new cabinet. There were new appointments at the head of the defence, foreign, home and finance ministries. Impacts The merger of the Central Statistics Office and National Sample Survey Office could further undermine trust in India’s GDP growth figures. If a crackdown on ‘illegal’ migration alienates neighbouring ally Bangladesh, Dhaka could draw closer to Delhi’s rival Beijing. Modi’s alliance will likely have a majority in the parliamentary upper house by 2021.

Poverty and Food Security: Trends Among Socio-religious Groups in India

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 384-396 ◽  
Author(s):  
Panchanan Das ◽  
Anindita Sengupta
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Poverty Line ◽  
National Sample ◽  
Sample Survey ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
Household Level ◽  
Poverty Risk ◽  
Rural And Urban ◽  
Level Information ◽  
Food Insecure Households

This article analyses food insecurity, poverty risk and inequality in different castes and religious groups in India by utilizing National Sample Survey Organisation’s (NSSO) household-level information between 1999–2000 and 2011–2012. The article provides an assessment of the socio-economic characteristics of food-insecure households of the country, and it finds that the poverty risk estimated on the basis of relative poverty line increased both in rural and urban India between 1999–2000 and 2011–2012. The study finds that the likelihood of incidence of food security for the population increased, irrespective of social and religious groups. Food security was lower in Muslims than in Hindus. The relative degree of food security was significantly less among the tribal people compared to other social groups.

scholarly journals Exploring the magnitude of inclusion of Indian youth in the world of work based on choices of educational attainment

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nitin Bisht ◽  
Falguni Pattanaik
Keyword(s):  
Educational Attainment ◽  
General Education ◽  
Educational Achievement ◽  
Multinomial Logistic Regression ◽  
Labour Force ◽  
National Sample ◽  
Inclusive Development ◽  
Sample Survey ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The World

PurposeThis study attempts to investigate the interrelationship between choice-based educational achievement and employability prospects across the skill-based occupations amongst the youth in India.Design/methodology/approachThis study relies on the use of National Sample Survey (NSS) data on employment and unemployment for the 68th round (2011–2012) and the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) (2017–2018). To estimate the relative contributions of choice-based educational attainment affecting the skill-based employment of youth in a different category of occupations ( high/medium/low skilled), the multinomial logistic regression and its marginal effects have been used.FindingsThe study finds educational attainment both as an opportunity (improvising employability in the high and medium skill occupation) and a challenge (highest unemployment amongst the educated) while ensuring skill-based youth employability. Despite the growing enrolment of youth in education, youth from a general education background does not find sustained employability prospects in high-skill occupations.Research limitations/implicationsVocational education highlights a brighter employability prospect but the acceptability of the same amongst the youth needs a policy intervention.Practical implicationsEducational choices need an intervention based on market-driven apprenticeships and training.Social implicationsThe decline of overall employability in the low-skill occupation raises a threat to inclusive development as such youth results to Not in Employment, Education or Training (NEET), better identified as the unproductive economic youth.Originality/valueThis study attempts to investigate that “how far the choice of educational attainment (general/technical/vocational) is able to make youth a fit in the world of work?” in the Indian context, where the youth constitute the highest share in the population.

scholarly journals A comparison of the Indian Diet with the EAT-Lancet Reference Diet

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manika Sharma ◽  
Avinash Kishore ◽  
Devesh Roy ◽  
Kuhu Joshi
Keyword(s):  
Urban Poor ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Fruits And Vegetables ◽  
Food System ◽  
National Sample ◽  
Sample Survey ◽  
Consumption Expenditure ◽  
Calorie Consumption ◽  
Income Groups ◽  
Nationally Representative

Abstract Background The 2019 EAT-Lancet Commission report recommends healthy diets that can feed 10 billion people by 2050 from environmentally sustainable food systems. This study compares food consumption patterns in India, from different income groups, regions and sectors (rural/urban), with the EAT-Lancet reference diet and highlights the deviations. Methods The analysis was done using data from the Consumption Expenditure Survey (CES) of a nationally representative sample of 0.102 million households from 7469 villages and 5268 urban blocks of India conducted by the National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) in 2011-12. This is the most recent nationally representative data on household consumption in India. Calorie consumption (kcal/capita/day) of each food group was calculated using the quantity of consumption from the data and nutritional values of food items provided by NSSO. Diets for rural and urban, poor and rich households across different regions were compared with EAT-Lancet reference diet. Results The average daily calorie consumption in India is below the recommended 2503 kcal/capita/day across all groups compared, except for the richest 5% of the population. Calorie share of whole grains is significantly higher than the EAT-Lancet recommendations while those of fruits, vegetables, legumes, meat, fish and eggs are significantly lower. The share of calories from protein sources is only 6-8% in India compared to 29% in the reference diet. The imbalance is highest for the households in the lowest decile of consumption expenditure, but even the richest households in India do not consume adequate amounts of fruits, vegetables and non-cereal proteins in their diets. An average Indian household consumes more calories from processed foods than fruits. Conclusions Indian diets, across states and income groups, are unhealthy. Indians also consume excess amounts of cereals and not enough proteins, fruits, and vegetables. Importantly, unlike many countries, excess consumption of animal protein is not a problem in India. Indian policymakers need to accelerate food-system-wide efforts to make healthier and sustainable diets more affordable, accessible and acceptable.

scholarly journals Impact of different sources of credit in creating extreme farmer distress in India

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 1676-1691 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bhavna Pandey ◽  
Prabir Bandyopadhyay ◽  
Alain Guiette
Keyword(s):  
Financial Institutions ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Statistical Tests ◽  
Reliability And Validity ◽  
State Intervention ◽  
National Sample ◽  
Sample Survey ◽  
Significant Information ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Government

Purpose According to the published report by the National Sample Survey 2014 the data says that the incidence of indebtedness among households in the rural areas of Maharashtra, India, is almost twice that of other rural places in India. Around 64 percent of rural households are indebted in Maharashtra as against 31 percent other households in India. The purpose of this paper is to examine which source of credit is creating more distress among the farmers. Further the researchers also wanted to find out the reasons why the farmers choose private moneylender over the formal financial institutions. Design/methodology/approach To achieve the objective, the authors used the mixed method methodology. The qualitative study was done using the ethnography approach .In depth interviews were conducted and coded accordingly to find out the themes. The interviews conducted were semi structured and had open ended questions in it, followed by a structured questionnaire. Different statistical tests were also applied on the responses obtained from the questionnaire to check the reliability and validity of the interviews. This methodology gave a robustness to the findings of the study. Findings The results show that sources of loan play a major role in causing farmer distress in Maharashtra. The findings also show major reasons like grapevine bureaucracy, lengthy documentation, etc. as the major reasons for choosing private lenders over the formal financial institutions. The most interesting finding of the study was a phenomena observed during the field study. The borrowers first borrow from financial institutions for their credit needs, when they fail to repay the debt borrowed they again borrow money from the private money lenders and with this borrowed money they try repaying a part of the old existing loan in order to make themselves eligible for the next loan cycle. Research limitations/implications The limitation of the study is that due to time constraint only two districts with high number of farmer suicide could be visited. Given more time and fund a comparative study can be done among different states of India. Practical implications This study will help the policy makers in identifying the real cause of farmer distress. The motive behind the policies made by the government is very noble but the implementation of these policies is inadequate and without a strong research base. The paper will be able to highlight how much the state intervention is required at multiple levels in order to ensure that the benefits reaches to those who deserve it. Social implications It is imperative that we have yet not realized the gravity of the situation where people belonging from a community which is so essential to the economy are killing themselves because of lack of money. This is not just about the fact that the people who give us food are unable to access food themselves. Originality/value The paper contains significant information with regard to indebtedness. It focuses on the issue troubling the authorities the most. It provides the ground realities of the incidence of indebtedness in Maharashtra, one of the most distressed states of India. Lot of studies have been done in the past but very few studies have used mixed methodology to study this incidence of debt among the farmers of Maharashtra. This study also unveils a new phenomena of borrowing happening among the farmers of Maharashtra.

scholarly journals Minimum Support Prices (MSP) and Its Influence on Cotton Farming in India

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
R. S. Geetha ◽  
V. Mahesh
Keyword(s):  
Positive Relationship ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
National Sample ◽  
Sample Survey ◽  
National Sample Survey ◽  
Delay In Payments ◽  
Set Up ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

The present study assessed the relationship of MSP and production of cotton and farmers’ awareness regarding MSP of cotton. Secondary data of National Sample Survey Office, Ministry of Agriculture and other sources were used for the study. The results showed that only 20.4 and 22.6 per cent of farmers in India are aware of MSP of cotton grown by them in kharif and post-kharif season, respectively. Thus, there is need to facilitate the awareness among the cotton growing farmers in all cotton growing states to avoid distress sale of their produce and assure better income. The growth in area and production and MSP of cotton was higher in period II (2005-06 to 2016-17) indicating the positive relationship. The announced MSP of cotton in the year 2017-18 kharif was lesser than projected C2 and C3 costs with negative managerial profit. Thus, there is need to revise of the cost concept considered for fixing of MSP.  The key reason given by farmers for not selling the produce to procurement agency is that no procurement agency or local purchaser is available to procure and there is delay in payments. Thus, there is need to set up additional procurement centres in major cotton growing areas with better infrastructure and finance facilities.

A sociological study of patterns and determinants of child labour in India

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Barsa Priyadarsinee Sahoo
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
National Sample ◽  
Child Labour ◽  
Sample Survey ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
Sociological Study ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
Level Data ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand the patterns and incidence of child labour in India and to examine the magnitude of child labour across different social groups. It analyses the impact of the socio-economic background of the children on their participation in the labour market. Design/methodology/approach The paper primarily relies on the data collected from secondary sources. The census of India data and the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) 66th round data (2009–2010) on employment and unemployment in India for the study. The dependent variable on child labour has been computed by the author for the analysis in the paper. Findings The findings of the paper suggest that poverty is not the only determinant of child labour, but gender and caste of a person is also a significant factor for child labour. The study found that children from lower-caste backgrounds in India seem to participate more in the labour market. In terms of gender, the study found that boys are more likely to engage in economic activities or paid jobs while girls are more likely to engage in household activities. Originality/value Data used in this paper has been extracted by the author from unit level data provided by NSSO. The variables used for the analysis in the presented paper has been constructed by the author and the figures provided are the result of the author’s estimation on data.

Self-vis-à-vis-proxy reported morbidity prevalence among adults in India: a study based on the national sample survey

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gopal Agrawal
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Household Survey ◽  
National Sample ◽  
Health Condition ◽  
Sample Survey ◽  
Prevalence Rates ◽  
Content Type ◽  
National Sample Survey ◽  
Morbidity Data

Purpose – Since inception, National Sample Survey (NSS) is the only large-scale household survey in India, periodically collecting data on morbidity and health care conditions in the country. In these surveys, information for all members of sample households was gathered either from head or a key informant of the household. This paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – This study was developed to examine whether the use of proxy respondents influences population estimates of morbidity prevalence rates and factors associated with morbidity prevalence rates among adults based on latest 60th round NSS data on morbidity and health care. Findings – The results showed that use of proxy in this survey had severely affected morbidity prevalence rates among adult persons aged 18 years and above. The result showed that use of proxy in the NSS 60th round survey had resulted in underestimation of morbidity prevalence rates among adults in such a way that overall morbidity prevalence rate was 45 per cent higher in direct interviews (148 per 1,000 adult persons) compared to those answered by proxies (81, p<0.001). There were variations in underreporting of morbidities by socio-economic and demographic characteristics of proxies but the direction of the association was the same. Research limitations/implications – The study conclude that morbidity data from the NSS can be used regardless of use of proxies and that the association between worse health condition and socio-economic and demographic factors persisted even when information was collected from a proxy. However, suitable adjustments for proxy-reporting should be made while estimating realistic population at risk from the NSS data. Originality/value – This is the first manuscript that has made an attempt to examine the effect of proxy-reporting on morbidity prevalence in NSS data. Since its inception in 1955, NSS data are the only data source available in India on morbidity and health care conditions. A large number of research manuscripts have been published using this data and there were serious concerns among the researchers on data quality particularly about the reporting of health status. NSS 60th round first time provided information on reporting status, i.e. proxy vs self. In this context, the present study made an effort in this direction.

Challenges and changes in Indian rural credit market: a review

2019 ◽  
Vol 79 (3) ◽  
pp. 338-352 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sougata Ray
Keyword(s):  
Structural Changes ◽  
State Level ◽  
Credit Market ◽  
National Sample ◽  
Sample Survey ◽  
Valuable Insight ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Rural Credit ◽  
The Government ◽  
Rural Credit Market

Purpose Post-independence, the rural credit market in India has undergone significant structural changes in order to enhance the availability and efficient use of credit. The purpose of this paper is to understand the challenges and changes in the Indian rural credit market in the post-independence period. Design/methodology/approach Using data from the All India Debt and Investment Survey conducted by the National Sample Survey Organisation of the Government of India from 1971–1972 to 2012 and Reserve Bank of India in 1951–1952 and 1961–1962, the study focuses on three important aspect of rural credit market, i.e. the availability, sources and uses of credit. The analysis is based on both the national and state level data and uses the decadal growth rates to explain the changes in the rural credit market. Findings Availability of credit, in terms of volume and number of households indebted, has increased substantially. However, the sharp rise in outstanding debt is a matter of concern. The share of credit from institutional agencies has seen a continuous decline post liberalisation. The non-institutional agencies, particularly the professional moneylenders, continue to be the most preferred sources of credit owing to their flexible nature of operation. Interesting, microfinance has emerged as a major source of credit particularly for the poor rural households. The rise in credit usage for non-income generating activities amongst poor households is another important concern. Originality/value The study highlights some of the most important features and characteristics associated with the Indian rural credit market. An understanding of these issues would provide valuable insight for shaping the future policy responses.

Gender bias in household education expenditure: the case of West Bengal

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-150
Author(s):  
Amita Majumder ◽  
Chayanika Mitra
Keyword(s):  
Gender Bias ◽  
Selection Bias ◽  
Female Student ◽  
West Bengal ◽  
Male Student ◽  
Sample Survey ◽  
Education Expenditure ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Engel Curve ◽  
Step Procedure

Purpose This paper aims to detect gender bias in education expenditure on “students”, who are children and young adults, in a household in the rural and the urban sectors of West Bengal. Outlay equivalent ratios have been calculated using the Engel curve approach, where the budget share function is log quadratic in income, to identify items relating exclusively to education of school/college going students. Heckman’s (1979) two-step procedure is used for estimation to address selection bias The 68th round (July 2011 to June 2012) household level consumption expenditure survey data of the National Sample Survey Organisation have been used for the analysis. Design/methodology/approach Engel curve approach is used to capture parental preference for student’s welfare and to find the existence of male student favouritism in the field of education. In case of exclusive adult goods, the addition of a student will reduce the resource allocated for adult goods leading to negative income effect. If a household favours males over females, then that household is likely to sacrifice more for a male student’s education than that for a female student. To address selection bias, Heckman’s two-step procedure has been used. Findings The authors find that not all education items relate exclusively to students of a household. Expenditure on books is not exclusively for students, whereas other educational items, such as stationary and photocopy charges, tuition fees and private coaching fees, are found to be students’ items only. Transport cost is found to be an adult good. Further, we find evidence of pro male bias in expenditure on educational items, and the extent of gender bias is more in the urban sectors compared to the rural sectors in West Bengal. Originality/value The objective of this paper is to identify the educational items exclusively for “students” and to test the difference in the allocation of resources in education, with respect to these items, between a male student and a female student for both sectors in West Bengal, using the outlay equivalent ratios.

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